Chairman of West Indies senior male selection panel, Roger Harper has described the prematurely ended West Indies Championship as interesting while listing a few players that stood out.
Harper was speaking on a Barbados programme, the Mason and Guests show on Tuesday evening where he stated, “I think it was a very interesting championship really, you know it really brought to the fore a number of things.”
Among the things Harper contended were the fast bowlers, who dominated the season.
“We saw a number of young fast bowlers putting their hands up and I think the fast bowlers really did well, if you look at the wicket column as the leading wicket takers you will see a number of fast bowlers towards the top which is sort of unusual,” he said.
The former West Indies off-spinner noted that apart from left arm spinner, Veerasammy Permaul who he reckoned, “Certainly he has put his hands up in a big way,” and “of course he would be seriously considered,” after finishing the tournament as the leading wicket-taker with 50 wickets along with Akeal Hosein (36) and Rahkeem Cornwall (30), the seamers dominated.
Chemar Holder finished with 36 wickets and was trailed by Preston McSween (31), Kemar Roach (30), Keon Harding (29), Marquino Mindley (24), Derval Green (22), Anderson Phillip (21) and Nial Smith (20).
Meanwhile, in terms of batting, Harper posited, “We had some good batting performances by some fellas who would now put their names into the fore and I think, watching all the games as well I think there were some interesting observations.”
Harper expressed his delight with some of the
batsmen, particularly Jermaine Blackwood who finished as the leading run scorer with 768 at an average of 51.2, as well as Kyle Mayers who finished second with 654 runs at an average of 50.3.
“Blackwood who has been in the team in the past and out the team, interestingly averages I think 30 in tests and he has certainly put his hand up, I think he is aware of the fact that he had gotten starts and been a little too impetuous at times but putting 700 odd runs on the board including 248 runs tells me he is serious this time and intends put his head down and bat. He has been fairly consistent, he didn’t get many centuries but been consistent throughout the series so that’s good to see. Kyle Mayers you know I think really grabbed the attention of everyone especially early in the season, he got two hundreds and made a lot of contributions as well especially when Barbados was under pressure. You have Nkrumah Bonner right you know which he has the leading average in the tournament apart from Alzarri Joseph…,” Harper related.
The chairman also was captivated by wicket-keeper and opener, Joshua DaSilva, who scored 507 run at an average of 50.7 and stated, “he batted very well throughout the tournament, a bit disappointing he didn’t kick on and get another hundred but he has shown that he got the ability to perform consistently and one thing that struck me about the young man is his composure, he looked very composed against all types of bowling.”
Harper, however, was not impressed with the international batsmen who did not dominate as expected.
“One of the challenges is that you expect your international players to really stamp their authority on the regional tournament and I think from a batting perspective, I think this was not the case and it was a bit disappointing because you expect the international players to let the others know they are a cut above them and show their class and I think this is something we need to look at closely,” he noted.
He also pointed out that there were a few areas that were noticeable and would need to be improved.
“I think the basic batting techniques on display, some of the things you see wicketkeepers doing and not doing and simple things that jumped out at me and basic things I think we need to improve on,” he opined.
The Chairman indicated that one of the plans Cricket West Indies has is to review the championship with a number of key technical people to see from all perspectives what areas were done well and what needs to improve.
